ATV At Adventure Park, Kemensah, Kuala Lumpur

It's good to live in KL when I get the chance to play host for my family, whenever there were here. My brother and one of his son came last two days, for my brother wanted to try mountain-biking at KL with his friends. OMG, he owns detachable bike and expensive mountain bike, and this can be considered him as super biking-freak! (Well, my dad to, now...) 

My brother frequently rides around Perak and Penang, but most of the times, he rides with his friends, not in competition or what not. At times, he would camouflage to "ghost rider", the one they called someone who patiently waited at some check point, and suddenly join the ride. Hahaha! If and only if the marshal didn't caught them, I must say.

Well yesterday, while I was looking after his son, he went to Kg. Kemensah/Kemensah Heights to ride with his other 11 friends. Two of them were guides. So I thought, it would be fun if we can meet him, after going to Zoo Negara. Guess what? Zoo Negara was packed with people! No parking, and the queue was super long! And so, I had to cancel it off.

Since my brother told me that he rode somewhere behind Zoo Negara, we quickly thought that he might be at ATV Adventure Park. Located near the MRR2, this place actually quite easy to find. We just need to look for signage of ATV, Ikan Keli Salai, Cendawan Tiram, and Lembu Korban. Hahaha! It was quite deep further up but we were entertained by visitors who were picnicking and barbequing along the small river. This is what KL people can do. Hehe!

Hubby and I always wanted to try ATV but I always told him, two riders won't give the excitement like a group ride (yes, they have 36 units!). Since we plan to have this activity with my fellows #TravelholicAwesome, why don't we have a quick check-out, I told hubby. Hubby was looking pretty excited and quickly jumped off the car and posed in front of the entrance.

There was one small man-made steps for visitors to climb up, before we finally reached the main shack. Before us, we saw rows of little cute monsters, ATVs, in red and blue colors. There was one that differs, might be used by guide or some sort of demo, in camo design. Cute!

We were lucky enough to hear the whole session, since there were 7 visitors (I believe Singaporeans) came to try this activity. Good tips, guides, instructions, and whatever rules were told and explained to them. They were given a few rounds of test/demo, before they were released into the wild. Owh, don't worry, helmet and guide(s) will be provided for each group! But you MUST come in sport shoes, okay!

One guide then came to us. We took this chance to ask everything that we wanted to know, for our own good preparation. He then handed us the pamphlet of the Adventure Park, complete with packages details, prices and tracks. Each package varies according to the type, length, and time of each track. It's your call!

Package B - RM100.00

1 to 1 1/2 hours offroad track up to Waterfall. You get a chance to swim there!

Package C - RM150.00

1 1/2 to 2 hours offroad track up to Sofea Jane. Yes, the famous waterfall where Sofia Jane used to swim. And you can swim there too! Fefeeling Sofea Jane gitew...

Package D - RM200.00

2 to 2 1/2 hours offroad track uphill and downhill to Bukit Tabur/Dam Ride. You will be seeing the whole KL and Kelang Gate Dam, here.

Package E - RM300.00

3 to 4 hours offroad track with rough terrains, river trail, steep hills, and bumpy muddy to Bukit Tabur/Dam/Sungai Liza/Dataran Mas/Bukit Lalang. Well, I guess this is the best of all!

Besides these tempting packages, facilities such as surau, toilets with showers, swimming pool, and ample parking space, clearly offers a good venue for adventurous Family Day. Pak Ein's family day maybe? Hahaha! Pity my nieces and nephews coz clearly, they are all under 16 years of age.

We then walked off and headed back, leaving us with their attractive statement "A Guaranteed Unforgettable Experience". And I believe, I need to try it one day :)

So, any takers? #TravelholicAwesome?

Note : More info here at ATV Adventure Park website. They operates on Monday to Sunday : 9am to 6pm (Close from 11am to 3pm on Friday).

Get Colder With Family At Genting Highland

Well, more or less, we have something in mind for this year's family trip. But before hand, let me refresh how fun usually my family trip was! Here is one of it.

Last year, we chose sun and splash for family holiday. We spent 2 nights at Pangkor Island, had satay and barbecue, banana boat riding, sight-seeing around the island, fishing, shopping and eating.

This year the whole family chose chill, freeze, and rip-off.
We parked our car at Genting Cable Car and queued for almost an hour. Bad decision. Going up via gondola during school holidays? (We had no choice as both of my sisters and in laws are teachers.) We used up 3 gondolas for the whole family. It was a windy day and the gondolas did stop for about 3 minutes, and I tell you, hanging and swinging on top of the hill wasn't fun at all!
We spent a night at Kayangan Apartment (4 rooms) with the price of RM700 instead of RM950. How did I do that? I slapped the reception's face! When I booked 2 apartments with 2 rooms each, she said the check-in time was 2pm. When I called a day before, she changed it to 3pm. And when we came to check-in, the apartments weren't ready yet and she told us the check-in time was 3-6pm! CRAZY! I have 10 adults and 12 kids with me who just walked 150meters in the rain with bags in hand, waiting outside the lift, and you expect us to wait there till 6pm?! So, I fought and fought, making fuss of everything, and voila, we got upgrade to a better apartment. (Not "that" better la...got many issue as well...poor management, I must say.)
We started our excitement with First World Indoor Theme Park where we rode two pay-per-ride Family Rides (RM8 each), that were Euro Express and Rio Float. It was hell of fun when adults rode with kids, screamed out loud, when it wasn't scared at all. Hahaha!
Even with packs of instant noodles, we still had lunch and dinner up there. AND WE GOT RIPPED-OFF! For a set of rice, 2 main dishes, and 1 vege, we had to pay RM17! For a set of chicken rice, we had to pay RM14! And for a small bottle of drinking water, we had to pay for RM5! Crazy huh? Total lost for lunch was nearly RM300!
Since all of my nephews and nieces eagerly wanted to play with snow, we finally burnt our money and went into the Snow World. Lucky I went in together with all of them, coz adults might have pushed them away to the corner, especially when they were asked to take coats and gloves. No one helped the kids, you know! And camera wasn't allowed (though I saw some did), so all the kids' parents including my hubby, took pictures and videos from outside the glass. We ended the night with snow throwing and shuffle dancing. Hahaha!
The next day, everyone was complaining that it was too cold till they can't breath and sleep. Where else, hubby and I slept in sweaters and we both got over-warmed in the morning and kicked down the quilt. Hahaha! We packed our things and some of us went out to have a sip of teh tarik, but couldn't find any spot to lepak. My dad went to ask one of the police officer and he told us the was one underground spot for staff that we can try. Haaaa...I cannot tell la where hehehe! It was wayyyyyyyyyyyyy cheaper than anything up there! We was overjoyed and became hip hopers! Hahaha!Since my step-sister drove to the apartment, we dumped all bags in her car. We walked to the Outdoor Theme Park and spent half day there. Since too many visitors queuing at ALL rides, we chose the nearest to the entrance, non other than Spinner. Fun for a starter. Then 6 of us rode the Signature Ride : Flying Coaster, and it was incomparable to the Superman Ride in Australia Movieworld! Hahaha! Fun but not too extreme. Superman is extremer! We then rode few Children Rides and Family Rides, like Matahari, Antique Car, Flying Dragon, Dinasourland, and Double Deck Carousel. We had to skip Pirate Ship, Rolling Thunder Mine Train, Cyclone, and Monorail due to rain and over-packed. But, we did try Corkscrew and only my step-sis's husband tried Space Shot. Hehe!

To go again?

Definitely a yes! It's colder than KL ya'll!

History Trip : Muzium Insitu and Bukit Jugra

From a distance, we obviously saw the Jugra massive billboard, right on top of the Jugra Hill, alongside the lighthouse and the tower. Beforehand, we stopped at In-Situ Museum and did a quick snapshot. The admission is free but it is closed at 5.30pm daily.

We then drove towards the hill and the scene was a bit creepy, with ruins of old palace and Chinese cemetery. It is said that this hill full of demons and ghosts with disturbing stories about voices and what not.

I must admit that this hill is too soundless.

So we tried not to state anything obvious.

Once arrived, there were 2 cars parked by the road side. The lighthouse was on our right, but the gate was closed. Right on our left, there was one small pathway, heading up into the bush, where I saw few joggers on the opposite way. 

“Owhkayyyyy…scary.”

We walked towards the famous letters of J.U.G.R.A, where we meet other visitors. There was shaded seated that I believed, built for para-gliding spectators. Looking down the hill was pretty scary coz there was no barriers at all. Hubby tried to get as far as he could to get all the letters in one frame but I warned him not to push of the limit. He was wearing thongs so he might get slipped off easily.

Further down, we saw one bushwalk. I used to read that you can try to take this route (upward, not downward) to reach the lighthouse. Along the bushwalking, you may find beautiful fauna, including snakes. You will also enjoy looking at flora, especially organic dragon fruits.

A bit of history on how this lighthouse is built.

"In the early days, many ships had tried but all of them failed to reach the beach that supports this great Jugra Hill, which locals then called Bukit Kerang, directly translated as Cockle Hill. In the late 19th century, British vessels had been travelling for weeks along the Straits of Malacca and each time they closed in, the shores of Bukit Kerang sneakily moved

backwards further inland, breaking these mighty fleets as they yielded to mounting frustration. Tired and thoroughly aggravated by the situation, the English constructed a lighthouse on top of the hill to guide their vessels. From then on, deep into the night, when all were asleep a beacon of light would part the darkness searching for ships to welcome ashore."

"Violated by the construction of the lighthouse atop its sacred peak, the hill bled continuously for 30 long days. The waters surrounding this great knoll assumed the rusty-red colour of the cockles that resided in the area. Ironically, the cockle population started to dwindle and slowly disappeared not long after the incident." Source: Tourism Malaysia.

Myth will be always be a myth. 

We waited until sunset and enjoyed the breathtaking view of amazing panorama. It would be perfect if it wasn't hazy. I wish the sky was blue, so that it can blend well with green trees and the river.

When we were there, no para-gliding activity being held. I have no info whether this activity is still relevant and do-able at Jugra Hill, but you may contact Captain Ikhwan at 019-3734858/012-281 8032 or paragliding_msia@yahoo.com for more information. The total cost including accessories is about RM1,300 (quoted here, read more for her experience doing the para-gliding).